The Girl Who Walked in the Sun
by Sasusakui
Summary: The whole village learns of the death of Sakura Haruno, and not just any particular death. Murder. A beautiful ceremony is held for her and many of those close to her grieve. Five years later after everyone has seemed to have gotten over Sakura's brutal death their breath catches in their throats when word goes around that she was recently seen walking the streets.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning!** This fanfic contains and will further include a massive amount of violence and the occasional gore, limes and rare lemons if I so choose to do so. If your under the age to know about certain things your parents deem inappropriate than I suggest you move along, if your still under the age and don't give a shit then...I respect you o.o Anyway, no matter the age if you want to read..read on :D

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Naruto couldn't believe his eyesight. Rather, he would prefer to tear out his eyes if that meant he didn't have to see what he was seeing. It was his biggest fear that he fought with blood, sweat, and tears to make sure it wouldn't manifest in his world. But just when he wasn't paying attention, it happened and now there was nothing he could do. The only thing that he could think of, was that for something so horrible to happen...it was a beautiful day with perfect weather.

"Sakura-chan..." he whispered.

_~[Later...]~_

Tsunadae's eyes almost buldged out of her head as she saw Naruto burst into her office with such force the door shattered to pieces. She opened her mouth to yell at him ,but stopped in her tracks as she saw what he was holding his arms. The woman almost wanted to turn away from the sight ,but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Oh my god...Naruto what happened?!" she nearly screamed in horror.

Naruto couldn't hear her. Her words were the equivalence of soft, meaningless whispers. The scent of blood was stirring the beast within him and he feared he would drop the carcass in his arms on the floor in front of the Hokage's feet. Anger was starting to seep through his pores as venom poured from his mouth.

"Don't even ask me that question because I don't know..." he swallowed the hard lump forming in his throat. "Besides Sakura, your the best medic Konoha has. Your going to save her"

The blonde woman looked at her former student that was being held in Naruto's arms and immediately her eyes started to well with tears; her teeth gritting together fiercely. With all the blood that was leaking into the cracks of the wooden floor boards, and the...the horrible lacerations going across the girl's body. Even just from one look, Tsunade knew that there was no saving the girl...she was already dead. Naruto was holding a dead girl in his grasp.

She put her face in her hands and started to weep. "I'm so...sorry Naruto. But even you can feel that, her chakra channels have dried up already. There's nothing left in her to save"

His eyes widened as realization started to settle in him, he didn't feel the struggle of her heartbeat. She wasn't even breathing. Still, Naruto chose to be in denial...the truth, when he could no longer deny it, would kill him too. Surely, Tsunade knew that. "Your lying..." he said softly. Tears were already falling from his eyes in huge droplets, his subconscious already knew the fate that lie with Sakura's life. It was already decided. He looked at her face and saw that her eyes were still open and he wished he left the observation as it was.

The green in them he came to love as he grew older. Gone. The beautiful shine and luster they reflected when the sun hit them. Gone. Her eyes were still wide with fear and the expression of true horror was still frozen on her face. She was scared the whole time until leading up to her death and she had to face that fear by herself. That's what ultimately killed Naruto the most if her untimely death did not. Her clothes were in tatters and bruises littered her blue-hued flesh in places that Naruto rather not look even though the opportunity was presented to him. He knew what that meant and wanted to throw up. Whether it was before or after she was brutally murdered, the bastard had a sick enough mind to rape her.

Just the thought made Naruto angry. So angry that he began to growl and his canines begin to lengthen, rising a newfound fear in the shaken woman standing in front of him. Her tears dripped down her face as she stepped closer to him, yes she was scared of the tailed beast residing inside the boy ,but she was even more afraid of letting the boy continue on the way he was. No words could describe how hurt he was, she could see and hear it clearly in his pained howls and broken eyes. Call it maternal instinct, call it love...Tsunadae's arms were around Naruto's shoulders in a moment's notice. His face sunk into her chest and she gently kissed the top of his blonde head.

"Your an idiot Naruto" she said through her salty tears. "I understand how you feel about Sakura. I loved her as a daughter, as a friend, and as a student. My heart...its falling apart seeing you bring her to me like this. It was not only a few hours ago did she come to me asking if I needed anything. She was smiling her smile as usual" she choked on her violent sobs. "The heart of the village will bleed at the news of this...Sakura was our star"

Naruto couldn't hold onto his anger any longer. As soon as he let it go, a pain like no other pierced his chest with such a force he thought he would die. He slid down to the floor with Tsunadae still hugging him and Sakura's deceased body laid gently across his lap, her pink hair stained with dried blood that was most likely her own. Naruto's howls of pain echoed throughout the whole Hokage building and his pain seemed to cast a dark cloud over every person that knew him well hearts. Everyone could sort of feel that something was terribly wrong. Drastically so.

"How do I go on?" Naruto yelled as he stared at Sakura's blank staring eyes. "How do I continue to look at anything that reminds me of you the same way again?"

_~[A Few Weeks Later...]~_

Again, like the day he found her, alone and discarded at the outskirts of Konoha...the weather was off. He would prefer it to be raining since it would perfectly describe how he was feeling right now, but it wasn't. The sun was shining brightly, but not overbearingly so. Clouds, big and fluffy, floated across the sky like gentle giants. Wind as soft as ever caressed everyone present with a smooth breeze. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Of all people to die, to be killed no less...death seemed to have come for the wrong person. The wrong person.

Onyx eyes looked at the faces of everyone clad in black, seeing that there was many present. At least half the village. Yes, he knew that Sakura would grow to be loved by this village...more than he could have ever showed to her himself. And now he regretted everything. Everything he said to her that he knew would break her heart, even his...his despicable attempt to kill her. It was true that she had tried to kill him, but that was no excuse. No matter what anyone said that was not an excuse. His fists clenched at the memory of the last time he saw her, which he was disheartened to say, on the battlefield. He made no resistance, no hesitation whatsoever to attack her. Of course with the intent to take her life.

He knew that would forever sever the bond between him and Naruto forever, there would be no chance of redemption from him. Sasuke was even wary to admit that he did not particularly find it pleasant to fight Naruto, the thrill of it was exciting because he knew Naruto wasn't one to give up. But fighting him while Sakura's blood was on his hands? Naruto would fight him until he was dead and then some. It would probably break his heart later ,but the black haired male knew better than anyone that Sakura was special to him.

The other blonde, Ino that is, was unconsolable the whole time. She wouldn't and couldn't stop crying on Shikamaru's chest, not even bringing her eyes up when Tsunadae started speaking to everyone as a whole. Naruto stood off not too far from the group, but not exactly within the group. His tears dried up a long time ago, and from what the onyx eyed male observed, the blonde spent the whole night crying. The red and dark circles under his dull blue eyes was proof of that. The silent Hyuuga girl that Sasuke knew of, was also very sullen but most likely wanted to console Naruto but she could tell he needed this time to try and cope. And she would give him that willingly.

Tsunadae stood behind a tall white open box about the size of a petite sized human. Sasuke was surprised that she would allow her body to be seen at such a crucial time ,but he figured things changed ever since he got back. He wasn't too far from the front of the crowd and could make out the careful and intricate details surrounding the object, the red Amaryllis flowers would surely compliment her hair, and her small crossed hands could be seen from where he was standing as well. This day would sit with him for the rest of his life...he knew that for a sure fact.

"...As for right now, I will allow everyone to place their hand picked flowers at the base of her resting place here. You may say a couple of a parting words of your choosing if you wish. I only ask that you keep it brief and short"

Sasuke could see the blonde woman tilt her head back towards the sky, perhaps trying to stop her tears from falling. For once, Sasuke wouldn't take tears as a sign of weakness...not today he wouldn't. Tsunadae stepped down from her place and stood behind the crowd of ninjas and villagers a like with the rest of the present jounin. The black haired male sighed and held his held down towards his polished black shoes, he figured it would be awhile before he could make his way up there himself, but he frowned when he didn't hear a single footstep. Just what the hell-

Oh.

Everyone had made an open pathway specifically for him, exactly where he stood. His eyes widened as he looked everyone in the face, all attention except Naruto's was on him. It was completely silent until Shikamaru stepped forward to speak. His voice cracked a little, no doubt Sakura's death came as a shock to him as well and affected him the same way as everyone else. "We all decided it would be best that those that were closest to Sakura go first, team wise. Anyway, it would make her happy to know that your here for this in the first place"

Ouch. Sasuke could admit that his words cut him to a place he didn't want to approach. It seemed everyone there silently pointed their finger at him for being the sole person that hurt Sakura the most, and yet he had the nerve to be there with them today. Where did he get off? Was he really so cruel? But what they didn't know was that Naruto was the one that sought him out when he caught wind of his sights in the Hidden Mist village, what he was doing there, Naruto didn't care at the time.

Sasuke felt eyes burn through him as he slowly but steadily made his way towards the decorated box that held the pinkette's body inside. He placed the white rose in his hand at the place Tsunadae directed them to and glanced at Sakura's body. Her skin was as pale as a piece of chalk, and her eyes were shut. It was here that Sasuke noticed that she grew her hair back out again, it reached the very tips of her elbows now. He drew a shaky breath and his sharingan flashed for only a moment, it took everything in him not to gasp aloud. The deep jagged cuts and gashes covering her whole body was revealed to him in that instant. It occurred to him that someone...someone did this to her. Naruto didn't tell him about this, how she died, just that she was dead. Nothing about her being murdered.

Tears he didn't even know he had, fell onto the pale face of the seemingly sleeping girl in front of him. He cupped her face with his hand and almost flinched at the coldness of her skin, the very surface of her was as hard a marble and Sasuke knew why. A process called rigor mortis. He quickly dried the couple of tears falling from his face with the hen-kerchief he had and returned down the path made for him amongst the crowd. Next was Naruto, who stiffly made his way to her. He placed his orange lily in the same place Sasuke put his and seemed to freeze as he stared at the girl's body. It was then that Sasuke's face softened at the sight of Naruto kissing her forehead, a heartbreaking expression covering his face. Silent whispers was the only thing anyone could hear as Naruto said his final wishes near Sakura's face.

"I'm sorry..Sakura-chan. I'm deeply sorry for not coming to your rescue when you needed me to, you put your life in my hands and I failed you...I'll always love you"

Sasuke could read lips very well and therefore knew what Naruto was saying to her. He could feel the intense waves of pain coming off of the blonde and it affected him too, almost weighing him down with guilt he never knew he possessed. After Naruto was Kakashi, who before walking up to her, patted Naruto comfortingly on the shoulder. His flower was probably the most significant and the flower that represented her the most. The silver haired male placed a single strand of cherry blossoms in her pink hair, afterwards, he softly grabbed her pale hand and squeezed it gently. He let his touch linger as he walked away, and let his hand cover his eyes. It didn't take a genius to tell that Kakashi was weeping.

Next was Ino, who had a bouquet of different flowers she grew personally at her flower shop. She was shaking terribly as she approached Sakura's body and started to cry once more. She hiccuped as she started to speak aloud to Sakura's still face.

"I wish this was all a bad dream!" she said as she cried. "How dare you forehead?! We made plans to attend each other's weddings and everything. Your such a liar!" she sobbed.

Everyone's heart felt heavier all the more and some began to cry when they originally weren't. The blonde's legs collapsed under her and Shikamaru hurried to gather the girl into his arms and take her back to her place amongst the crowd, where she still continued to cry.

~*Dusk*~

The ceremony nearly lasted all day and Sasuke could admit honestly that he was exhausted. Emotionally and physically. He felt lost now that he knew Sakura was dead. Leaving the village to continue his musings with his team didn't feel right whatsoever, but staying didn't either. Sasuke never broached the subject with himself about what he would do if he ever found out Naruto or Sakura died, so in all honesty he could say that he wasn't prepared for the news and felt a new pain spreading across his chest. Similar to the pain he felt when he discovered his brother was not to blame for their family dying, the feeling he got when he knew he'd been wrong the whole time.

The male had been previously walking the quiet streets of Konoha when he noticed that he stopped, only to look up and see Naruto blankly staring back at him. The blonde looked down at his feet and continued to talk past Sasuke without saying a word.

"Wait Naruto," Sasuke called out to him. Naruto stopped but didn't turn around. "When I went to...see Sakura, I saw the wounds. I saw the cuts she had across her skin"

Naruto still didn't turn to face him. "So?" he simply asked.

"You never told me how Sakura died, Naruto. You never told me she was murdered" Sasuked said slightly seething.

The blonde was quiet for a moment before responding, this conversation was obviously hard for him, but Sasuke didn't care. He demanded answers. "That's not all Sasuke..."

"What do you mean that's not all?"

Naruto shivered and gulped. "I don't know when ,but...she was also raped"

Sasuke froze. He didn't want to believe that, nor did he want to imagine her screams as she refused the person above her. The very thought made Sasuke sick to his stomach. It also made his blood boil...to do that much to someone so innocent. He didn't know what to make of it. Who would do something like that to her?

"I'm going to find who did this Sasuke..." Naruto said lowly.

Sasuke could feel the murderous aura surrounding the blonde, it sent a shiver up his spine.

"I'm going to first take what they took from me," he shook with fury. "And then I am going skin that person alive"


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning**! This chapter contains **gore** and **rape**. If any of those two things offend you...get out of here.

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Her screams could be heard for miles around but no one seemed to hear her, he liked that. He wondered if he'd gotten lucky with this one, especially on such a beautiful day. Crimson filled his vision and he could feel himself go hard. He could only think, yes, bleed just like that. I want you to stare at me with those green eyes of yours! His tongue flashed out of his mouth as he lapped up the sweet nectar that wouldn't stop flowing from the wounds he alone inflicted. He couldn't stop the flow of euphoria from coursing through him like a drug, it was time to have her.

She wasn't bad looking either, which was an added plus. His hands were rough and calloused, so he was no virgin when it came to this type of thing. Speaking of _virgin_...his eyes trailed the still clothed female's body and licked his lips, her thighs, her just starting to swell breasts. He could tell she was untouched.

Sakura, through a blurred vision, could feel his hard gaze traveling along her body as if it were his hands doing it. Her throat was clogging up with her own blood as she still struggled with two slashed through tendons. The pain of even stretching the archilles tendon in the ankle was excruciating, but to have it severed? She couldn't describe it. Her constant moans of agony could not describe it.

And now he was hoisting her hips up and her legs were dangling in the air behind him, God, her feet themselves were barely hanging on to the rest of her. All it would take would be one hard yank and the muscle and tissue will yield and she will officially be unable to walk permanently. She widened her eyes in horror as he began to cut away at her clothes. A new fear crawled inside of Sakura's heart and a newfound voice crawled up her throat despite it being painful for her to breathe.

"Please stop" she began to weep and he paused momentarily. "Please don't, I don't want you to take something like this from me! Just kill me! Anything but this!" she hollered.

One of his eyes twitched as a look of fury flashed on his face. He grabbed for his already bloody and rigged knife and plunged it deep into the female's stomach, dragging it across forcefully as if trying to cut her open. He listened to her screams blissfully and almost felt the need to praise her for these set of screams being louder than the last set. He _loved_ it. So far, she's been the best fun he's had amongst the couple hundred or so he's been through.

"So you _are_ a virgin," he mused aloud and made a clicking noise with his tongue. "Never had a virgin before. The rest were dirty whores! But not you, your a good girl aren't you?"

As he spoke, he ran a hand down her compressed shorts and instantly tore those off of her too. She could only cry and squeal at the large knife still engraved in her abdomen. Sakura was wondering what she'd done to anger the Gods above her to the point where they would let something like this happen to her, nonetheless keep her alive through it. Why had she'd not fallen unconscious from the trauma yet? A new scream came up her throat as he painfully and forcefully shoved his thick and long member inside of her. She was disgusted by the sight of his eyes rolling back in pleasure.

To say she was tight was an understatement. He was almost unsure if his dick would literally tear her bottom half, well..-in half. But like the champ her body was, she was able to take it all. By take he of course meant he made sure that she would take all of him. He pounded into her mercilessly, not bothering to change speeds or anything of the sort. He screwed her until he at least came five times. It didn't surprise him that her tight little body couldn't hold all of his load, some of it began to even run down her thighs and pool around what was left of her feet.

That was it. There's the look he was looking for. He was sick of the confident smile she would give to her patients, to her neighbors, hell even to the fucking cats. One could only imagine how turned on he was by the dead look in her eyes, it made him hard all over again. It was then that he got an idea. He licked at his lips again and grabbed the knife by its hilt and yanking it from her abdomen. He watched her reaction with an expectant grin and then proceeded to lick the blood dripping off of it. He smiled at her again before plunging the thick knife square in the middle of her wrist's artery. Blood splattered on his chest and face making him almost come at the sight of it, but he couldn't get sidetracked now.

Her throat was hoarse and sore beyond repair and it was at this point she realized she could no longer scream, it almost surprised her enough to subside the pain slightly, but that eventually changed when she opened her mouth in horror at the realization he intended to cut and pull her slender hand right off. He succeeded of course, and it came off easily as if he was taking a part a puzzle piece. tossed the piece of her up and down in his hand like it was a toy. He smirked at her. "I was thinking of keeping this but never mind, I'll just use it instead and then give it back to you" he started to walk away but stopped before looking back at her. "Try not to go anywhere Sakura-hime"

He walked away laughing and Sakura's eyes filled with tears, they fell with little to no resistance at all. She couldn't help but think about how far away she felt from her village right now, the sad part was that she wasn't really that far at all. She could literally leap and be within the village's gates, safe and without worry. Sakura wondered why no one seemed to hear her, why no one seemed to even noticed that she was gone for far too long. Where was Naruto? Surely he could feel that something was wrong, that's just how he was. Just the thought of him made her heart bleed even more, despite being cut and gutted and soaking in her own blood like a bath, she could feel a more severe pain in her chest that had nothing to do with the knife the man plunged into it. What she wouldn't give being near Naruto right then.

A sigh tried to make its way through her lips but she only ended up coughing up an obscene amount of hot blood. Her eyes started to finally flutter shut, the sun was bright and she seemed to be lying right under it and staring into it. As if that was the only thing that could save her as of now, _will she finally leave_?

One would pity her once they knew that would not be the last of her seeing that man once again. She had to go through a little bit more hell before she finally left the Earth.

The sight of him one final time stilled her into silence, she was able to stop her tears for the time being. There he had her hand in his grasp, dripping and absolutely covered in his...Sakura would throw up but she was honestly afraid one of her organs would come up instead and she would choke on it. She inwardly jumped when he threw it right next to her face. The stench was almost overwhelming. He glanced down at her, straight into her eyes as if he were her lover and he loved her deeply. His hand reached out for her face and Sakura could do nothing but except it, she no longer had the strength to even flinch away from his touch anymore. He knelt over her body without his knees touching the ground ,but close enough to make out every detail of her near blood soaked face.

He lifted her head to him by grabbing her from the back of her neck like a puppy and softly planted his lips on to her's. The softness took her by surprise ,but that didn't make the pinkette any less disgusted than she already was. He trailed his kisses down her neck and she wondered how in the hell she even had enough blood to send some up to her face in a blush. "_I love you Sakura_"

Did she hear right? Did he seriously say he loved her after carving her up like some sort of animal?! This guy was insane. "I do this to all the women I love, but you have been thus far the sweetest" he said to her softly while still kissed her deathly pale neck. She could faintly hear her heart beat slowing down to the same speed as slow bongo drums, there would be no getting out of this one. He got to the area where her collarbone was and in no time at all, Sakura began to feel a slight pricking sensation but didn't find pain within it. Her severed tendons did all of that for her. He moaned deeply as he slurped and she began to feel somewhat weightless, as if she were floating, and then she was gone.

_~[Before...]~_

A certain blonde watched one of his best friends talk to another woman blissfully, but thats not really what he was looking for. She smiled. There it was, he began to feel his heart flutter in his chest. That smile of her's could brighten his day at any point, no matter how sad he was, her smile was infectious. He loved that about her, _he loved her_. He was going to hop off his balcony and run to go speak to her when he was stopped by a familiar friend. His eyes widened, why was he here?

"Gaara?" he said aloud in question.

The said male turned around from his place in the street and sure enough it was him. The red head smiled slightly at him and waved him down. Naruto glanced at Sakura, who was now walking away and waving her goodbyes to the woman, and was making her way somewhere else. He shrugged and reassured himself that she was safe within the village. Without Sasuke there in the village he didn't have another set of eyes to watch over Sakura with, so he was always wary about letting her go off on her own, but Sakura was old enough to take care of her own well-being. He needed to learn to lay off a little. Sighing, all Naruto could do was focus on his important friend who made his way to being Kazikage. If he was here that meant it was something important.

Naruto landed roughly, but still up right on his feet in front of Gaara, who was wondering why he chose to jump off such a high place and not come out his front door.

"Naruto" Gaara acknowledged with the incline of his head.

Naruto nodded back and leaned his head back a little to get a good look at the person in front of him. Was he slightly taller than him now? "What brings you here Gaara?, the Sand village is far from here"

Gaara made the decision to trust Naruto with information that was originally meant for the Hokage of his village, but he made a promise with this person and he trusted him. Naruto wouldn't let him down nor betray his trust. The red head looked around and could only see kind faced people, this place was as peaceful as he remembered, but he wouldn't take the chance.

"Lets talk somewhere secluded" Gaara said firmly.

Naruto's face grew serious and he nodded, showing the Kazikage back to his home, where they talked about something Naruto (who was well known for being open-minded) had a hard time believing to be true.

_~[A Year After]~_

Naruto could vaguely remember the time he had that talk with Gaara and wondered if what he had told him had anything to do with Sakura's passing. An old and yellowing letter of apology from Gaara himself laid open and untouched by Naruto's bedside. At the time of Sakura's funeral, Gaara wasn't there. He couldn't make it and for that he was sorry too, but Naruto understood. He was a busy person and more than one life depended on him. Anger surged through Naruto and his fist made a hole in the wall in his room, he gritted his teeth. Why couldn't he be more like Gaara? Sakura couldn't depend on him enough for him to come to her rescue and now she was...

The blonde immediately felt guilty once he retrieved his numb fist from the wall and looked at the other holes through out the house that matched the one he just made. There was a lot more than the last time he looked. A knock sounded at his door and Naruto got up to get it, he didn't particularly feel like talking to anyone but he respected the person that had enough courage to knock on his door after what happened. It still felt like yesterday to Naruto.

He grasped the door knob firmly and opened it, not bothering to ask who it was. The blonde's eyes only widened in surprise for a couple of seconds. "Sasuke" he muttered.

The onyx eyed Uchiha stared back at the blue eyed person in front of him, immediately thinking that Naruto wasn't taking care of himself as everyone had said. Facial hair started to sprout haphazardly across his chin, dark circles collected under his tired and stressed eyes, and from it's usual messiness, his blonde hair seemed more wild than tamed. Sasuke wasn't surprised ,but he was expecting Naruto to maybe be a bit more optimistic about Sakura's death and cheering everyone else up while they struggled to cope. It was the complete other way around except Naruto would snap at anyone that decided to try and help him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde before pushing his way inside Naruto's house and looking around with slightly surprised eyes. This was the cleanest he'd ever seen his home. He turned to look at Naruto, who was still standing by the door, for an explanation.

"Sakura always told me to start cleaning my own house" Naruto said while walking across the room and sitting down in a chair nearby an open window. "She wasn't my girlfriend so I had no reason to have her clean my house when I didn't feel like it" A tear threatened to fall ,but he wiped it away before it could make its appearance. Sasuke sat across from him on a couch, looking at him and listening with an attentive face and crossed hands. "Its the least I can do for her now"

Sasuke shook his head at him. "She would want you to be happy now Naruto, your eighteen for God's sake. You have many years ahead of you-

"And so did Sakura! She died at seventeen, SEVENTEEN! She had so much potential and was going to lead this village to a better future with us, but..." Naruto covered both of his eyes with one hand and looked down. He would prefer no one see him this way but it couldn't be helped, Sasuke pushed his way inside a place he wanted no one else to see. Sasuke barely knew what to say. He was terrible at trying to console people and didn't exactly know how to deal with pain himself except to isolate himself from others. What made him think he would be able to get to Naruto who seemed so crest-fallen and so far away from everyone else?

"We all miss her Naruto..." Sasuke gulped. "I.._miss_ her. At least you left a good word with her Naruto. I didn't. The last time she saw me..."

Naruto finished for him. "You tried to kill her. She wanted all three of us to be together again, she _loved_ you"

"That's even worse" Sasuke told him, his voice cracking. "She left this world thinking I still hate her and _I don't_. But I didn't realize that until she was gone"

Both men put their faces in their hands, silently weeping for the third person that was suppose to be with them. She was suppose to be there perhaps trying to quell their arguments, making fun of how stupid they looked when they argued, putting a smile on their faces, and making the two of them laugh. Now that would never happen. It's been a year since Sasuke last saw her _alive_ and _dead_. Naruto stopped weeping to see Sasuke's face and his saddened eyes.

Seeing the pain there was easy for the blonde considering he knew him well, but there was something else there too. "Sasuke...do you?..do you love Sakura?" he asked him.

Sasuke's head shot up from his hands and he clutched uncertainly at his chest through his dark shirt. "I'm not sure myself Naruto"

_~[Two Years Later]~_

Naruto sat behind a large wooden desk that had pictures on top of it. One was the old picture of Sasuke, himself, Kakashi, and Sakura together when they were all genin. He loved that picture the most, but the second one was special. It was of Sakura herself. She was wearing an all white dress with flowers in her hair that Ino picked for her, the dress swished about her knees and the sleeves were slightly puffy. Her long pink hair was curled. It was cloudy that day and the sky looked gloomy, but Sakura was like the sun passing through the clouds and clearing away every shadow being casted upon the village. She was so _beautiful_.

His thoughts were interrupted when a little girl bounded happily into his office and immediately hopping into his lap. "Uncle Naruto, uncle Naruto!" she screamed. He smiled back at her and petted her head, it seemed this little girl could actually bring a genuine smile to the man's face. Naruto could see the resemblance of her mother in her as well as her father. Her long black hair that touched his lap as she sat and hummed a tune, and her onyx Uchiha eyes she surely got from Sasuke. "Where's your father Mikoto?" he asked the little one.

She leaned her head back and smiled up at him. "Otou-san is downstairs with Okaa-san, but he said I can head up to see you before he talks to you"

Naruto nodded at her and decided to wait for Sasuke to talk to him instead of making his way down to see him. Knowing Sasuke, he made Mikoto go to see him so he could talk alone with her mother. It was no secret that the two of them have been on the rocks lately and Sasuke was starting to lose interest in the relationship him and Hinata had...at least it was mutual. The blonde was thinking to himself silently when one of the pictures sitting on his desk piqued the interest of the little girl, she wanted to reach for it but remembered the time her father scolded her for touching things that weren't her's. Instead she decided to ask her uncle about it.

"Uncle Na-ru-to" she sang.

Naruto looked down at her. "Yes?"

"Who's that lady right there?" Naruto realized she was pointing to the one with just Sakura in it. "She's very pretty"

Naruto's eyebrows raised up in surprise. So Sasuke hadn't told Mikoto about Sakura, or he has and this was just her first time seeing a picture of her. He sighed, he still wasn't very comfortable talking about Sakura but he couldn't blame Mikoto. She was just curious.

"That girl there..her name is Haruno Sakura" Naruto said slowly.

Mikoto smiled wide and then gasped. "Just like the flowers," she peered back at the picture again, "her hair looks like it too!" she said proud that she made the observation. Naruto chuckled at her and grabbed the picture and held it low enough for Mikoto to see.

"She was a very strong, very kind, and beautiful kunoichi" Naruto said lovingly.

Mikoto looked at him again, a small crease above her lips indicating that she was sad. "Is...is she up in the sky?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes threatening to water on the subject of _how_ she ended up in the sky. "Your father and I loved her very much"

"Aww...Mikoto wishes she could have met her" she said with a pout.

The blonde smiled again and put the picture back on his desk where it belonged. "She would've loved you Mikoto"

It wasn't long before Sasuke came into the room, clad in his ANBU attire. His mask hung near the side of his head so his face was clearly visible. Mikoto immediately ran towards him, screaming 'daddy' the whole way. The male smiled and bent down to receive her, and lift her into his arms, and to let her sit on one of his forearms; her legs dangling near his chest. "Naruto" Sasuke greeted.

Naruto inclined his head, his Hokage robes shifting a little on his body. "Sasuke. I was wondering why little Mikoto came bouncing into my room when I realized you weren't with her"

Sasuke opened his mouth to explain why when his two year old spoke before he did. "Otou-san! Uncle Naruto told me about Saku.." she thought hard for a moment. "Sakura!"

"Oh? He did?" Sasuke said raising his eyebrows at her. "He told you about the flower?" he asked.

Mikoto shook her head in mild frustration. "Noo, Otou-san! The girl in the picture!" she said pointing to it.

Sasuke stared at the back of the frame which prevented him from seeing the picture, he looked at Naruto for permission. The blonde leaned forward on his desk and grabbed the photo, holding it out for the onyx eyed male to see. He walked forward and took the object from Naruto's hand and inspected the look back in time. The sight almost took his breath away. He was out of the village when the picture was taken, but he didn't see how just looking at Sakura would've made him stay. She'd grown to be beautiful. Sasuke was sad to admit that he missed out and gave up a precious thing, and he would never get the chance again.

"Was her hair really pink like in the picture Otou?" his daughter asked.

Sasuke gulped and handed the object back to Naruto. "Yes it was. She was the only girl in the village that had pink hair like that" he told her.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke looked down at his beautiful daughter on the swing set, smiling gently at her as he pushed. It was his turn to have Mikoto that afternoon and he wouldn't waste it moping over the fact she would have to live with her mother and not with him. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Sasuke lived by himself now and couldn't support himself without Hinata, quite the opposite. The Uchiha assets were ,if not more, the same amount as the Hyuuga's, it was a lot of money for one man to spend. It was because Hinata was her mother. Her father was manipulative in a way that it was more favored that Mikoto live with her. He painted a dark picture of Sasuke (that wasn't all that far from the truth) and people believed him.

Hinata's father never liked Sasuke. He would've approved much more of the Hokage rather than a dysfunctional Uchiha, so he made it his personal decision to make sure Sasuke never saw his granddaughter. But lucky for Sasuke, Hinata was a rational woman and knew that Mikoto wouldn't grow up properly without her father in her life. So she made sure to drop Mikoto by her father's every weekend. This weekend was almost over (Monday was when Mikoto went back to her mother) and Sasuke could only feel more depressed that his time with his daughter was ending.

"Otou-sann" Mikoto sang cheerfully.

His head perked up. "What is it Mikoto?"

"I saw the pink haired lady today, when I was with mommy"

Something inside of Sasuke froze. She couldn't be talking of the same person that was popping up in his head. She only saw Sakura once and that was from the picture in Naruto's office, and like Sasuke said Sakura was the only girl in the village that had pink hair. With her death, that was the death of her clan as well. The Haruno clan was no more because it's heir had died, so it wasn't possible for anyone else in the village to have pink hair because the trademark stopped with Sakura.

Maybe Mikoto just saw someone with red hair and mistaken it for pink. He wouldn't blame her she was only two years old. Then again, she had the brains of her father and possibly her blood uncle as well. Sasuke decided to humor her. "What was she doing honey?"

Mikoto dug her little feet into the dirt to let her father know that she didn't want to swing anymore. She'd gotten serious. "She was staring at me, like she was trying to figure out who I was...then she disappeared"

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed together in thought, he had to keep an open mind about this. "Did your mother see her?"

"Okaa-san?" she asked with the tilt of her head.

Sasuke nodded.

She shook her head no. "It was almost like Okaa-san _couldn't_ see her, but I could. Sa-ku-ra..."

It should alarm Sasuke that there was a potential stalker following his daughter around, but he decided to humor her again. "Is she around right now?"

Her little head turned around and she looked towards him. She didn't seem to find anything at first, but her eyes seemed to focus on something behind him. She started to shake in fear and whimper slightly. It alarmed Sasuke knowing that Mikoto wasn't one to be scared so easily. He went to comfort her ,but he found himself frozen in place. There was no way for him to move in any direction nor move any limbs. It was like he was paralyzed.

Mikoto continued to stand still in absolute fear and Sasuke knew immediately that she couldn't be there for what happened next. "Run home to your mother's house Mikoto" he told her through gritted teeth. What felt like a cold pair of arms snaked their way around his torso, further locking him in place. His daughter wanted to stay with her father who was obviously in danger, and her eyes told him she wouldn't leave without him. Sasuke wouldn't have such a thing though.

"I **SAID** get out of here!" he roared at her.

Mikoto flinched at his tone and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, she tripped on something but gather her skirts and just ran faster. Once she was out of his sight, Sasuke could relax and activate his Sharingan. He channeled his chakra over the surface of his skin and electricity started to crackle. Before he was able to make any sort of defense something hot sunk into the side of his neck and he struggled even more to get away. His chakra began to deplete and he no longer had the strength to try and summon any more of it.

He began to get light headed and lose his footing as he slowly fell to the ground face first. His vision was hazy but he was able to at least spot the attackers feet next to his face. Whoever attacked him had to be a woman, but for a woman to have that much strength...it was unreal. Her feet were small and covered in blood, the metallic smell was unmistakable. The fabric surrounding her body was a deep magenta and felt like silk, it was most likely a very expensive kimono she was wearing.

Sasuke heard a faint sound of laughter before he finally fell unconscious.

_~[A Few Hours Later]~_

Naruto stared down at the jade crystal monument standing in front of him. The clan symbol engraved on it was unmistakable and the blonde immediately sighed as he said his prayers first and then began to pour himself a small cup of sake, lighting a candle as he did so. He discarded his formal white and orange Hokage headdress and set it near the monument, watching the orange sun set in the dim distance.

"You would be so proud that I made it here. To this point in my life" he talked into the atmosphere. "Are you happy that I finally achieved my dream?"

He took a sip of the pleasant smelling sake and swirled it around in his mouth before finally swallowing, the liquor not giving him any type of buzz whatsoever. "I just wish you were here to celebrate this with me" he said quietly. The name written on the slab of emerald was in cursive and written below it was the multiple lists of missions and lives the one woman had saved. All of her achievements and her reward was for her life to ripped away from her. If anything, Naruto thought that was the cruelest thing in the world other than war.

A sudden fierce wind blew out the scented candle, and the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck bristled as it seemed the whole surrounding atmosphere around him changed too. It grew heavy and suffocating. He knew by now it was a must to trust his instincts (which were usually right), and that he would rather be considered as overprotective instead of careless. _Being careless cost lives_. The blonde stood abruptly, being careful not to spill the alcohol all over Sakura's resting place. He narrowed his eyes at the thought of anyone trying to desecrate the grave of Haruno Sakura, it was known all over the village that it angered him for anyone to approach the vicinity of the beautiful place recklessly.

Just as the atmosphere returned to normal and Naruto was going to resume his talk with Sakura, footsteps from nearby took his attention, he recognized the soft and hurried steps as Hinata right away. Next was her heavy and labored breathing. Naruto immediately caught her in his arms, her face buried in his chest as she sobbed into it.

"What's happened? Is it Mikoto?!" Naruto asked her in slight panic.

Hinata still continued to cry and Naruto abruptly pushed her off his chest. "Hinata snap out of it! I can't help if I don't know whats going on!" he said shaking her a little.

"It's Sasuke" she said through her tears. "he was attacked"

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked towards the hospital Sasuke was likely in. He prayed that he wasn't dead. "Look," he said to Hinata sternly. "I need to hurry and get to him and see if I can find Ino to do some damage control with him, in the meantime, where's Mikoto?" he asked her.

"She's at my house with her grandparents and Neji, she's safe" Hinata said through painful sobs.

Naruto could relax a little knowing Sasuke's daughter was okay, but he still needed to see about Sasuke. "I want you to go home Hinata, to Mikoto. She's probably even more scared that your not there with her and whoever attacked Sasuke might be after you too"

Hinata nodded and ran off back in the direction she came, leaving the blonde to himself. "You better not be dead you idiot" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

_~[At the Hospital]~_

Naruto burst through the doors of the hectic hospital and immediately combed through the crowd for Ino. He found her hastily walking down a hallway towards a room before he quickly intervened her path. Frightened, she jumped and quickly saw it was Naruto.

"Thank goodness your here Naruto, there's something you need to see. Come with me" she said starting to walk away.

She didn't get very far before Naruto grabbed her arm. "Is Sasuke here? He was attacked not too long ago"

The smaller blonde, with eyes of ice, snatched her arm away from Naruto's tight hold. "Yes! If you weren't so quick to question me you would know that's who I was leading you to!"

Naruto's head bent down in slight apology and the short haired blonde in front of him could only roll her eyes in annoyance. She lead the way down the white halls and soon they were in front of the room where Naruto knew Sasuke was being held. His chakra, faint as it was, leaked out of the room weakly. Ino put a hand on the young Hokage's chest and placed herself in front of his path, she knew before he did that he was just going to burst in the room and demand that he see Sasuke.

"Listen Naruto, you can't just barge in there asking questions that no one knows the answers to-"

"So what are you saying Ino, your saying you just want me to stand here?!" Naruto yelled.

Ino sighed. "No Naruto you can come in with me calmly, I just need you to let us do our job. No matter what that may be" she told him sternly.

The young Hokage stared at the tall blonde for awhile before he agreed to do what she said in her domain. She smiled gently at him and put a hand on his shoulder before leading him into the operation room. The first thing Naruto saw was Sasuke laying on a white cotton bed, hooked up to wires and a blood bag, it pained the blonde to see his best friend this way. What happened to him?

"What are his injuries?" he asked Ino.

The petite blonde went over to the foot of the hospital bed and picked up the clipboard hanging from it. She flipped through the pages seemingly much too fast for someone to read. "Almost complete blood loss and two puncture wounds four inches apart from each other, each hole about three or two inches in diameter" she reported to him.

Now that she mentioned the wounds, Naruto could now clearly see the pinkish gray holes on the side of Sasuke's neck. His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as he stared harder at the wounds, they were so peculiar. Out of all the wounds he's seen on other people, and the wounds he's gotten himself, he's never seen a type of attack that would result in the type of injury he was seeing on Sasuke.

"This is not our biggest problem right now" Ino said turning to face Naruto.

The young Hokage shot her a look and she threw up her hands in defense. "I'm not saying that Sasuke being attacked isn't important. I'm saying that whoever attacked him found a way inside the village and was able to sneak up on Sasuke while he was with his daughter"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he realized just how much serious the situation became.

"I don't know what this person is capable of, but they just achieved a goal that would otherwise be near impossible to accomplish. We need to be on guard so nothing like this happens again"

~[Morning shines in the eyes of a waking Uchiha]~

The sun near blinded the hell out of Sasuke as he seemed to blink his way back to life. He cursed under his breath and started to sit up only to feel the world spin around him and almost make him vomit. His eyes widened as he suddenly covered his mouth, feeling the intense wave of nausea run over him like a current. Scowling after the feeling passed, he figured trying to get up wouldn't be such a good idea.

A gasp caught his attention and by his bedside was his daughter, her red ringed eyes indicating she may have been crying. "Otou-san!"

He smiled gently at her from his bed and patted her head softly, just the slight movement alone making him feel weak. "I hope you weren't crying over me. You didn't give up on me did you?" he asked her.

She shook her head furiously. "No! I knew you would come back, I just...Mikoto was really worried about you" she said through watery eyes.

"Is your mother with you?" he asked her.

She nodded and pointed towards the door leading out of the room. "She's talking with uncle Naruto outside, do you want me to get her?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Just get your uncle Naruto to come up here. Don't tell your mother I'm awake yet" he told her.

"Mikoto is a good secret keeper!" She sang and ran out of the room.

Sasuke frowned slightly, he didn't know how to feel about his daughter being a good secret keeper. Just who's secrets was she keeping? Without a moment to waste, Naruto bustled into the room with concern on his face.

Once meeting the opened eyes of Sasuke his concern melted away and in its place came a sigh of relief. It was almost in the raven haired male to go red in the face seeing the blonde was so worried about him, he didn't have to say anything.

"How are you feeling?" The blonde asked taking a seat.

Sasuke shrugged. "Weak. I don't think I can even imagine anything without getting the urge to throw up, I'm just glad my little girl is okay"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I'm thinking of putting the village under lock down" he stated.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Lockdown? Konoha didn't have to be on lockdown since the war, even Tsunade's death didn't cause the village to go into lockdown. He was attacked just a day ago and now the whole village had to be aware of it?

"Why? I'm fine Naruto, yeah I was attacked it happens to the best of us. But it won't happen a second time, at least not to me anyway" Sasuke muttered.

Naruto sighed. "Who's to say that it won't happen to you again? This person was able to catch you off guard—

"I was with my daughter!" Sasuke roared.

"Like I said, off guard! This person was able to get into the village without raising any type of suspicion and the guards saw nothing! Someone like that is dangerous" Naruto reasoned. "I have a duty to these people, I promised them"

Sasuke scowled and further nestled into the pillows underneath his head for further comfort. The pounding in his head further confirmed that he was annoyed. "Do whatever you have to do Naruto" he said turning away from him, refusing to look at him any longer.

The blonde was hurt by Sasuke's actions, but he couldn't let his thoughts linger on him any longer. He was safe and that was great, Naruto wouldn't have it any other way, but now that he was safe he had to worry about other things. Like what he was going to tell to the villagers on the subject of locking the whole place down and forcing a curfew down on the heads of the people.

_~[An Invisible Beast Lies In Wait]~_

It had never been as hungry as it was now. The beast had no choice but to salivate at the sight of a frightened looking child trying to gain his mother's attention, and expose the monster's presence. The beast chuckled, it was really too bad the mother couldn't see it, making the child appear as if it was crying wolf. Tears rolled down the small boy's cheeks as his mother refused to listen to his fruitless cries anymore, and ordered him to wait outside the shop as she went inside. That left the kid alone and in the presence of the beast.

The child cowered as the beast tauntingly showed it's gleaming jaws and fangs to the boy that couldn't fathom why something like this was real. As soon as the boy turned around to run inside the shop to the safety of his mother, he was grabbed by the back of his neck and his throat was torn open, a spray of blood going across the sky and splashing on the spot where the boy once stood. Alive.

Red eyes rolled back in pleasure as the boy's mangled body was devoured into it's stomach. A startled scream of terror made the beast look up from it's meal, it was the mother screaming to let go of her son, her cries was angering it. The stopped screaming and stumbled backwards in absolute fear as the beast towered over her, she fell to her knees in front of it and went completely silent, her tears silently spilling over and dripping down her cheek. The creature sneered and dangerously got close to her face, blowing it's putrid breath into her nostrils. She covered her mouth as her eyes welled up painfully and she turned her head to vomit on the ground.

The beast grinned wildly and positioned its jaws over her whole head, she would soon join her son the creature reasoned. Her frightened intake of breath was all the beast needed to pull her head off her body and devour it. Her decapitated body convulsed awkwardly before finally falling over, with blood starting to collect around the carcass. The beast left the scene with no regrets at all, once again taking on it's invisible cloak.

_~[Word Spreads...]~_

The village was already in lockdown, even more so with the recent news.

Two brutal deaths of a mother and her child.

Naruto already knew that no human or ninja could've done the deed that occurred some days ago. The blonde was still shocked upon hearing the news from Shikamaru, who also commented on the unease of the civilians who were fearful of the so called '_beast_'. It was even more of a reason to tighten up on the round about guards and jounin aimlessly walking around to see if they spotted anything weird. The blonde reasoned he would have to send a letter of condolences to the Hokage of the Sound village.

"Good morning Hokage-sama"

Naruto turned around in his chair to spot Hinata letting herself in with Sasuke at her side, he looked pained just to be standing in her presence. They must've had a fight on the way there. The blonde nodded his head in acknowledgement and directed her to the two seats in front of him.

"You know me Hinata. Like Sasuke, you should just call me Naruto" the blonde said with a soft smile.

Maybe it was engraved in Hinata's DNA, to blush around the most handsome guy and ninja she's ever met, but now that she was an adult she knew how to quickly shield it. "Its...inappropriate, but I suppose for old time's sake I'll call you by your name. Naruto" she said gently.

Something in Hinata definitely changed from when she was young. The blonde could sense a regal air about her now, her father probably got to her after all this time. He crossed his arms.

"So? What brings you guys here? It's rare that you too even visit me" the young Hokage said with a bit of mirth to lighten the mood.

Hinata cleared her throat and gave Sasuke a side glance, then politely put her hands on her lap. Sasuke wanted to sneer and scowl at her ,but he'd done enough that already on the way there. "We're here to finalize our divorce" Sasuke grumbled. "if anything we don't need it to be finalized when this whole thing is way overdue"

The black haired beauty restrained herself from responding to him and instead keep her focus on the one who was going to liberate her from...Sasuke. Naruto crossed his arms and shook his head at the both of them. "I thought you guys were going to try and work it out"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Been there, tried that. The only thing I'll ever thank her and her prestigious family for is Mikoto" Naruto winced at his words. "The only good thing that came out of him was Mikoto, not to mention his less than exciting bed skills" Hinata said lifting her chin a little higher. Naruto's mouth dropped open slightly, she said it without even making a face and with no pauses either. Sasuke whirled on her. "And where the hell do YOU get off huh? My bed skills not up to par with your horrible blow jobs, you almost bit it off!" The blonde's face went red at the mental/painful image, he hesitantly put a hand on his thigh to soothe the pang going up his leg at the idea. Hinata glared at the raven haired alpha male. "That coming from someone who can't-

Naruto put his hands up and slammed them on the table in front of him, making the quarreling divorcees jump and turn their attention on them. "If you guys really want this divorce then I'll give it to you, but don't regret it later. The only thing I ask as Mikoto's godfather and uncle..." he looked directly at Hinata as his next words came flowing out of his mouth. "don't keep his daughter away from him. With you gone and with Sakura passed, that little girl is all he has left"

Hinata nodded obediantly. "That won't be a problem"

The blonde nodded at her and cracked his knuckles a little, the very notion reminding him of the time Sakura told him it was one of his many bad habits. He returned his attention back to the now officially divorced people in front of him and his eyes lingered on Sasuke. "I'm sure you know Sasuke is ANBU Hinata, you'll let me speak to him alone for a second or...do you have one final thing left to say to him?" Naruto asked her.

Her gaze settled on the Uchiha that refused to look at her, it probably would've worked out if he changed but he wasn't there yet. There was still many things and many people sill left on his mind that he wouldn't give up for the world, it was because of that that she couldn't stay with him. Besides that he was someone that was hard to love, it was like he didn't really know how except when it came to his daughter. It was obvious that he loved her with all his heart. Just not her mother. Maybe at one point in time he was he did, but now it was clear that he didn't love her.

She shook her head. "I don't"

"Well then, you have no reason to stay in the same room as Sasuke any longer. You can go home to Mikoto" Naruto said with a faint smile.

She bowed in appreciation to the blonde and left his office without turning back.

Sasuke sighed when she left and put his head in his hands. "Nothing makes sense anymore"

Naruto listened to his ramblings with an attentive ear before telling Sasuke what he had to tell him. When the Uchiha was done speaking, Naruto took his chance to tell him the news. "You've heard whats happened right? In the Sound village?"


	4. Chapter 4

He felt sorry for her, more sorry than he was suppose to feel when it came to situations like these. The young woman lying dead not too far from him didn't struggle to hang on to her life any longer than when she had first tried to hang onto it. After what he just saw her go through, he wouldn't either. Still, he pitied her and knew that his next actions would be highly looked down upon amongst his colleagues.

His head turned slightly to the sound of approaching footsteps and he further cloaked himself from the presence of other humans, as expected, the blonde male hadn't had a clue that he was being watched. The male frowned inwardly as the young blonde almost stumbled over the carcass of the woman. A loud gasp was heard, and then the familiar expression of pure horror came into his vision. He then bent down and scooped the woman into his arms and weeped.

The being that watched sighed and turned away, disappearing with the notion of never even being there to begin with. He knew this wouldn't be the last he heard of the two of them.

_~[Present...]~_

"What about the Sound Village?" Sasuke asked. "I was just there not too long ago on a mission and everything was fine"

Naruto nodded in agreement with him. "Yeah I know, considering I was the one that gave you that solo mission there in the first place" the young Hokage paused momentarily. "so you haven't heard?"

"Just tell me already Naruto, I'm sure it can't be that bad anyway" Sasuke said with a slight narrow in his eyes.

"Two deaths" Naruto said holding up two of his fingers. "they were so...grotesque that the whole village shut down and now no one can leave or come in. The same goes for any outside forces and allies"

Sasuke frowned. "That means us. How would we help them if they won't even let us in?"

Naruto remained silent for a very long time, his silence only further making Sasuke nervous. After thinking hard, the Uchiha finally realized the cause of the blonde's deathly quietness. "You don't intend to help them do you?" he asked him in shock. He wasn't expecting such a thing from Naruto, he was the type to jump at the chance of helping someone.

"I have every intent of helping them, but you can't force someone to except the help they don't want Sasuke"

Sasuke charged in. "But-"

Naruto held up his hand for Sasuke to quiet down, he wasn't finished speaking anyway. "I can't help but feel that something like this, will only get worse for them. I have to think about the possible outcomes that could come with extending our aid to them, it could affect us too"

Sasuke was shocked indeed, but knew where Naruto was coming from. He would've made the same decision too if he was in his position, but it was just a surprise hearing it from Naruto. The years that have gone by must have really grown him up. He was no longer thinking of ways he could recklessly go to someone's rescue, but to sit back and think of ways he could maybe help while keeping his home safe. It was hard to be king.

The onyx eyed man sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So what are we going to do? The Sound Village is not too far from here, right above us if you want to get technical, we're already in a dangerous situation because of our geographical standpoint. If anything we're in danger whether we help them or not, damned if we do damned if we don't"

"I know. Which is why I'm increasing the level of lockdown on the village" Naruto decided.

Onyx eyes widened. "You do know what that'll do to the villagers right? They're already on edge because of the curfew and lockdown enough as it is, especially since you haven't given them an explanation as to why. They'll panic"

"And they'll panic even more if I told them what _really_ happened. It would be stupid to tell them that one of our best ANBU was rendered completely defenseless in the heart of our town. Believe it or not Sasuke these people have put their faith in you just as much as they have in me. They believe that if I may fail you will pick up slack, that's their faith. How do you think they'll react when I tell them what happened to you and I had no clue until Hinata came running to tell me?"

Sasuke fell silent. He was completely right. There was no winning this debate with Naruto and he knew that, instead he stood and saluted him much like a soldier would. "What are your next orders then?" the Uchiha asked.

Naruto paused momentarily. "Spread the word amongst your team and order them to do the same. I want every ANBU on patrol around the perimeter ,but top jounin inside the walls. We have to keeps our eyes open and our minds sharp"

"I'll be back soon with reports if anything comes up" Sasuke said before disappearing into thin air.

_~[Too ill-fated monsters meet with the moon as their witness]~_

This is what it had been waiting for. To find a village big enough to satiate it's appetite.

Its multiple blinking lights indicating life made the maddened beast grow excited and eager all the more as it pondered if it should shed it's cloak and wreak havoc or simply gradually cause panic amongst the residents. Its jaws widened to an inhumanly extent in excitement as it decided on the former option, it would satisfy its blood lust for at least a month. It was then that the beast's grin turned into a look of confusion, he smelled something different wafting through the air and he recognized it almost immediately, maybe his nose was failing him after all these years?

No no. He must be hallucinating, there was no way that they still exist after this many millenniums, they were practically extinct thanks to his ancestors. He gave the air another sniff and the smell only got stronger as it got closer to him, if there was one thing it knew...it's nose never lied. Outraged, the beast whirled around on the newcomer that appeared behind it. It was right in it's assumption, she was definitely one of them. She had their eyes, their teeth, their speed, and maybe even their strength depending on how old she was. Her skin looked soft ,but the beast knew better. If it were to touch it she would feel like stone or possibly even rougher and harder than that. It would be easy for her to be a statue. She didn't need to blink, breathe, or move much to survive.

The more they made eye contact with each other, the more the beast knew something to be wrong with her. She was...defective in some way. Now that he smelt more of the scent she gave off, she didn't smell like the rest of her kind. Almost human but vastly different from them at the same time. What was so different about her? It stared at her appearance harder. If it was any normal human, it would consider her a normal human too just a little strange in how extremely beautiful she was. She was clothed in a dark purple kimono that was decorated with white Amaryllis flowers and her feet were bare. Odd considering it wasn't even in season to wear one of those ,but just the way it was hanging off of her body slightly...unnerved the beast to say the least. Just the way she stared at it without saying a word...as if the creature itself was simply in her way.

Her dead stare with eyes of dark ember simply stared into his of cobalt, it wondered what she was thinking.

The creature in front of the female didn't register as anything other than what she saw. It more or less looked like a massive wolf with pointed ears and devil horns jutting out from the side of its head. The only reason she stood in front of it was because she wondered what its intentions were with the village beneath them, only then would she take action. Instead of answering her unasked question, she watched as the creature shifted and its fur started to morph into flesh and his size gradually decreased to something slightly taller than her. He apparently had a human form and the sight shocked the female into widening her eyes, the first emotion the beast has seen on her as of yet. She looked at him as if she knew him.

Even in his human form his canines still glistened and shined, it was unnatural for a human so he tended to stay away from them in this form. He'd rather just eat them and be done with it, however, his human mind knew the woman in front of him. His mind registered her being dead, and someone who was heavily missed amongst her comrades. Now that he remembered, he was there when she was being buried. She buried her head in her hands and tears began to flow, a yelp was threatening to burst from between her clenched teeth, her head pounded with things she didn't wish to know.

His hand began to reach out for her and she backed away, her bare feet making a scampering noise against the grass. "Wait..." he managed to say with an inhuman voice that was slightly echoed. "I k-know you"

_~[Meanwhile...]~_

"We've been patrolling the village as if there was another war about to happen" a random ANBU complained.

His partner nodded. "It's almost as if the Hokage is on edge about something, but knowing him he won't tell the rest of us anything. He only talks to Sasuke...who by the way somehow managed to earn a spot in our division being the _traitor_ that he is...if only Haruno-san was still here with us. She'd be leading us into whatever fray was bothering the village"

"Speaking of Haruno-san, she was the angel amongst us. Smart, talented, and most of all beautiful. Even on the battlefield she could attack easily because the foes were too distracted by her. She was the best captain we could've ever hoped to have"

Others that had overheard the two men's conversation either nodded their heads with them or made a agreeing noise with their mouths. However, they had no idea of the red-eyed Uchiha himself watching over them from above with nothing but annoyance in his eyes. This is what they talked about when he wasn't around?! He was at least somewhat glad he didn't directly interrupt them because he at least got more of a backstory on Sakura when she was still alive. They wouldn't tell him if he asked (and he had too much pride to do so anyway), and Naruto didn't like to talk about Sakura too often without feeling the need to be alone afterwards.

He was surprised that Sakura was the leader of an elite squad for ANBU; he knew her to be somewhat talented being on the same team with someone like him and Naruto, but talented enough to lead a squad on her own and protect them at the same time? That almost didn't sound like her. Judging by the way they were talking about her, the Uchiha figured they would be the type to secretly take photos of her and keep them somewhere private. Thinking about that made him want to shiver.

"Do you remember that one mission we had in Suna Yuuki?"

The male nodded with a goofy smile on his face (his face was unmasked for the moment). "How could I forget? Haruno-san had just gotten back from a surprise ambush. She told us to leave so we could complete the mission, and she literally came back in tatters. Still standing and strong as usual, but in _tatters_"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in fury. The rest of the surrounding males all seemed to have a nosebleed at once from their own imaginations, some even going so far as to ask for more details on her body if the story teller would be so kind. He'd had enough, he couldn't let the conversation carry out any further. His sword was out in a flash and he appeared suddenly in front of the same men who stumbled backwards at the sight of him. The very tip of the blade was pushed towards the stroyteller's throat with a deadly accuracy. The only thing Sasuke could give him credit for as of now was seeing no fear in his eyes, nothing but detestment.

"If any of you were taught by Sakura like you say you were then you'll know that the one thing she hates the most is people that have loud, obnoxious mouths. Besides, it's extremely disrespectful to talk about the dead in such a way. Just what do you think she would do if she heard what you all said about her?..." Sasuke reminded them.

Their amused faces then turned into a look of fear as they remembered vividly of Sakura's wrath, which was much less pleasant than the gentle Sakura they came to know and love. The only person that wasn't affected by this memory was the same man whom Sasuke still had his sword against his throat, he pushed it away from his person with more ease than Sasuke would've liked. Was this guy seriously trying to test him?

"Your talking about my captain as if you knew her. My squad wasn't stupid enough to see the aftermath you left her in when you decided to abandon her, everyone knew. Everything she did was nothing short of reckless, yeah she was talented almost as if she was born a prodigy like you were, but she worked hard to get there. Other than that she fought as if her life depended on it and protected us as a squad the whole step of the way. She just wasn't happy. Her mask wasn't perfect, not as perfect as your's"

Sasuke's eyes had narrowed all the more with every word the kid kept saying (**Sasuke refers to this guy as a "kid" because even though they're all well past their late teens and into their early to mid-twenties, the person he's talking to is still a couple of years ,give or take, younger than Sasuke**), he didn't want to set a bad example for the rest of the ANBU that was there, but the person in front of him was making it very difficult.

Before he could open his mouth to respond with a smart comment, a large explosion from somewhere far made his ears ring momentarily. His eyes widened slightly in pain and he turned around to see where the blast had come from. Sharingan already activated, Sasuke looked around frantically, his heart pounding when he saw the smoke rising from inside the village. He prayed that Mikoto was with her mother before heading off towards the site, commanding only a few to come with him and the others to assemble with others to further investigate the surrounding perimeter. His feet lightly touched from branch to branch as he rushed towards his view of destroyed homes and littering rubble. Chakra resonated over his skin in the form of electricity and minorly shocked the men surrounding him, though they didn't complain, Sasuke still wanted it activated beforehand.

A surge of pressure came from his right and on reflex Sasuke dived from the trees and landed gracefully on the forest floor. He looked up to see if it was an attack of some sort and frowned when he noticed nothing, no weapons, no splinters in the bark and no surge of chakra. What he had felt was pure untainted power. He resumed his venturing on foot instead and kept an eye out for any enemies along the way. He eventually got to the clearing that was almost completely leveled with dead jounin all around. Even most of the gravel had been peeled away. Just what the hell happened?

He walked cautiously through the now deserted part of the village, stepping over dead bodies as he did and trying not to notice the lacerations all over their bodies. What caught his attention next was large claw marks littering some of the walls that still managed to stand after all the destruction, he walked up to a set and lightly grazed his fingers against it. _No chakra responded to his touch whatsoever_. Sasuke was nothing but baffled. Every enemy they fought against so far had had some sort of chakra network, minus animals, and whatever was tearing through the Leaf was surely _not_ an animal. He glanced at the claw marks once more, or maybe it was.

Another explosion not too far from him shook the ground he stood upon and made his ears ring again; more painfully than the last time. Recovering quickly, he made haste to the next area and stood still in his tracks when he got there. As a prodigy child, he'd never once second guessed or questioned his next motives, such actions were considered weak to his family. Until this night, he was questioning if what he was seeing was real.

What seemed like man morphed with a wolf was intent on trying to kill the female fighting on par in front of him. They both moved so quickly Sasuke's sharingan had a tough time trying to keep up, he knew well that without it activated the two would seem like blurs to him. Still strangely, they didn't resonate any sort of chakra whatsoever. The mixed creature lunged at the female, effectively backing her into a broken down but still standing wall, his fist lunged towards her petite body and she dived out of the way. His fist grazed against the object as he noticed that his target had moved and he left the same claw marks on the wall behind his attack.

Sasuke squinted his eyes to get a better look of the female's face but her face was covered thanks to the oversized hood she was wearing. Something about her was vaguely familiar, but hurt his head to try and remember. The beast had gotten the best of her, her bare feet wasn't suppose to meet the dead body behind it that was just waiting to become a nuisance and because of it, she lost her balance for only a second and the beast took the opportunity in a flash as if its life depended on it. Its claws flashed momentarily before going across her stomach and then proceeded to kick her in her side. Red liquid burst from her wounds and she was blown back faster than anything Sasuke had ever seen. This was a one-sided battle, and the Uchiha could do nothing but look on.

He couldn't help but flinch as he heard obvious bones crack and shatter even from the distance he was standing. Besides, a male that size hitting a woman that small in comparison...the Uchiha could only conclude that she would be dead just after those two hits alone and the weight plus the power and force put behind such an attack. Her body settled near a torn up house where dust rose from being disturbed, to Sasuke's observation...her hood had fallen off to reveal long pink hair.

He gulped immediately, the sight bringing back memories of someone obvious he use to know but he would seek the truth before making an assumption. The beast began to walk toward her unmoving body, the wind that rose from the dust carrying more of her hair away and out of the hood she used to keep it tucked away and out of sight. His darkened talons reached for her slowly and Sasuke felt his chakra surge, a ball of electricity forming in his right hand. He didn't even think about forming Chidori at the time, he just did and if asked at any other time why he did it...he wouldn't have an answer.

He pumped more chakra into his feet to make him go faster (considering he didn't know how fast the beast was and if he would be able to dodge or not) and he could hear the wail of his Chidori echo throughout the village. The stunning power of his jutsu made cracks appear in the already abused ground causing him to put more speed into his legs and adjust his aim towards what looked like the beast's heart. Everything else seemed to go in slow motion. His fingers brushed against the soft fur of the beast and his eyes widened more as the beast turned to face him, off to Sasuke's right, was the rising body of the female whom he was sure was dead. Sasuke's last thought before the beast rose up its leg and kicked Sasuke maybe fifty or so feet away from the scene altogether, was that he shouldn't have jumped into this battle alone.


End file.
